Middle-earth in Blacklight

It's well known that hippies were into Tolkien's work. Some of its themes appealed to them, certainly, but like with Lee and Ditko's Dr. Strange comics, there was also the idea that the works might somehow be drug-influenced. The author, it was assumed, might be taking the same trip as them. This was, of course, a false belief, but it was one that existed.

I this appreciation of Tolkien filtered through 60s countercultural and mixed with the prevalent cultural representations of fairytale fantasy led to a subgenre or aesthetic movement within fantasy, most prevalent in the late 70s and early 80s, before D&D derived fantasy came to ascendancy. While this subgenre likely finds expression in literature and even music to a degree, I think it is most recognizable and definable in visual media. It's evident in works like Bakshi's film Wizards and the Marvel comic Weirdworld (both in 1977), and in the Wizard World sequences (starting in 1979) of Mike Grell's Warlord. Elfquest (1978) shows the influence to a degree. Bodē's Cheech Wizard (1966) and Wally Wood's Wizard King (introduced 1968 but significantly presented in 1978) are either the oldest examples or its direct progenitors.

Essentially, the subgenre eschews the serious world-building of LotR for a more drug-influenced riff on The Hobbit, often with greater use of anachronism, camp, and sexiness, and often with a degree of psychedelia. Beyond the Tolkien influence, these works tend to share a number of common features:  a "traditional" visualization of elves and dwarfs as "little people," arising in folklore and classic illustration, but coming more directly from Disney animation and the fairytale comics of Walt Kelly; the influence of Denslow's Oz illustrations or the design aesthetic of The Wizard of Oz (1939); absurdism and humor borrowed from underground comics and Warner Brothers cartoons; unreal landscapes and visually alien settings informed by Sword & Sorcery and science fiction comics rather than historical or mythic sources of Tolkien.

Given they were contemporaries, D&D shows some in influence from these sources, primarily in its early art and occasionally humorous tone. But as a game that arose from wargaming there was always a thread of verisimilitude or equipment fixation that runs counter to this freewheeling psychedelic adventure vibe. Also, the violent, heroic narratives tended to have less room for the silly or less competent characters of psychedelic fantasy works.

Warlord by Mike Grell Omnibus Vol. 1

We finally have a solicitation for the Warlord Omnibus mentioned back in the fall. It supposedly only has a price of $75.00, which seems low given the page count (1040 pages).

In any case, it's supposed to include 1st Issue Special #8, Warlord #1-50, and Amazing World of DC Comics #12. For a volume 2 (if there is one) that leaves the non-backup stories from Warlord #52-71 (#51 is a reprint), Warlord Annual #1, Warlord (1992 limited series) #1-6, and Warlord (2009) #1-16 for a total of around 1005 pages in that one, by my count.

Comics I Liked This Week

 Not all of these were new last week, but that's when I got around to reading 'em!

Absolute Martian Manhunter #1: I a fan of Martian Manhunter and particularly a fan of new interpretations of the character from the DeMatteis/Badger limited series, to American Secrets, to the underappreciated series by Orlando and Rossmo. This title sits firmly in that tradition with a first issue that is something like the traditional origin of Martian Manhunter meets Shade, the Changing Girl, and I dig it.

An FBI agent, Jones, is nearly killed in a bombing and since he's been having hallucinations and seems disconnected from his life. As he (against orders) investigates the bomber and tries to make sense of his motives he discovers the was only saved by somehow bonding with an alien intelligence. Or possibly that Other is a manifestation of something already within him--maybe his own mind? At this point, it's unclear. Deniz Camp's story is intriguing and well done, but I feel like the really star here is the psychedelic art of Javier Rodriguez, that reminds me of the pop art inspired comics work of Guy Pellaert or Alberto Solsona.

Bug Wars #1: This one is on issue 2, I think. Slade Slaymaker, along with his brother and mother, is forced to move back into the home where his entomologist father died a grisly death. It's a home with secrets. Not the least of which is that there are warring tribes of diminutive insect-riding humanoids having epic battles in the unkept backyard!

Ad copy calls this "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids meets Conan" but I feel like Aaron and Asrar are fulfilling the promise of Sword of Atom or the Hulk stories set in Jarella's world in a gritter, modern way.

The Seasons #1: This title from Remender and Azceta is actually on issue 3 now. The series is set in an alternate 1920s (I think).   A decade ago, the parents of the Seasons sisters disappeared. Now Autumn has discovered where they might be, and how it might be connected to a creepy carnival that has just arrived in New Gaullia where Spring Seasons is. Will Spring be able to avoid falling prey to the carnival's clowns?

Remender said that they wanted to do something that paid homage to "paid homage to Tintin, Miyazaki, Winsor McCay, and Jeff Smith’s Bone." I feel like those influences are very much on display in the style and setting of the first issue. There's also a tinge of horror lurking in the background that adds intrigue to the whimsy.

Lost Marvels

Fantagraphics has been doing hardcover with some Timely and Atlas stuff for some time, similar to their EC Comics Library. An interesting development that slipped by me was the announcement of a new archive series of more recent Marvel material: Lost Marvels.

Volume 1, set to release at the end of April, is Tower of Shadows. It collects the 9 issues of the never before collected horror anthology series from 1969. (With issue 10, the series became Creatures on the Loose, and some of that has been reprinted elsewhere.)

While that's interesting, I don't know if that would go into the buy column for me, or it wouldn't have, but then I saw the announcement of volume 2. That volume's titled: Howard Chaykin Vol. 1: Dominic Fortune, Monark Starstalker, and Phantom Eagle. It collects the first (maybe only?) appearance of Monark Starstalker in Marvel Premiere #32, all the color Dominic Fortune stories by Chaykin including the Max limited series, and the collaboration with Garth Ennis, War Is Hell: The First Flight of the Phantom Eagle. Pretty cool contents, particularly when there is no chance of ever seeing any sort of Dominic Fortune collection. 

The "vol. 1" implies there may be a Chaykin volume 2 in the future.

Rust was Weird

This week the score from an ebay auction came in: All 13 issues of the 1987 series of Rust by Now Comics. My brother had two issues of this (as it turns out, the last two) when we were kids, and those issues had left us curious about the rest of the comic. 

Well, since I bought them as a gift for my brother, I haven't read them yet, so I can only report what I know from the internet and the two issues I have read, but in brief, Rust is the story of a cop who presumably through some sort of accident gets super-tough skin, acid blood, and a gruesome appearance. The original writer was Steve Miller, but most of the run is written by Fred Schiller. The art is most by Tony Atkins and Jim Brozman.

I gather most of the series is Rust taking on various non-super-powered bad guys. The first issue we read was issue 12 that is the culmination of a storyline involving Rust taking on a cult. It had an eye-catching cover and a preview for Now's Terminator comic. The next issue blurb promises: "the end of the world."

And this was not hyperbole.

The final issue (September 1988) has a deadly plague spreading across the globe. Rust and his (I guess) love interest are separated by events and presumably unaware the other is alive for most of the story. It's a hell of a way to bring a truncated run to an end!

While I admire the audacity of that ending, it's no wonder the 2nd Rust series in 1989 completely ignores it.

The Adventurers

This weekend, I won an ebay auction on the Malibu collections of The Adventurers from 1990. If you don't remember this minor title of the 80s black and white boom, it's a fantasy series started at Aircel in 1986 by artist Peter Hsu (later replaced by Kent Burles on interior art) and scripter Scott Behnke. After 2 issues, it moved to Adventure Publications where it ran for 10 issues. 

In 1987, it was followed by Book II than ran for 7 issues. Adventure was acquired by Malibu as in imprint in 1989 and there was a Book III that ran for 6 issues. 

In an era when Sword & Sorcery comics not based on a work by Robert E. Howard were disappearing from the stands, The Adventurers was practically its own small universe. There were also spinoff series: Warriors, Ninja Elite, and possibly Hsu's Elf Warrior, though I'm unclear if it's in the same world.

While clearly drawing inspiration from the S&S comics of the 70s and earlier 80s, The Adventurers explores new territory by borrowing the adventuring party from Dungeons & Dragons, and other fantasy rpgs and making a recurring character a representative of the important 80s group: the ninja. 

I can say that The Adventurers is anything phenomenal but if you are a fan of S&S comics (which I am) or 80s black & white indies (also me), I think they are at least worth checking out. There's one fansite I've found dedicated to the series.

Captain America: Brave New World

I saw the new Captain America movie this weekend. It continues the adventures of Sam Wilson as Captain America. Those that missed The Falcon and the Winter Soldier Disney+ series might have missed that he took over the mantle from Steve Rogers sometime after the events of Avengers: Endgame. It also features a new Falcon, Joaquin Torres, and a host of other characters from previous Marvel films, including some call backs to the early days of the franchise.

In brief, Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross has been elected president, and Wilson has been working with them despite tensions that remain from the period of Captain America: Civil War. Ross even asks Wilson to consider restarting the Avengers. Ross has secrets, though, and events put Wilson at odds with his Commander-in-Chief as he strives to clear the name of a friend and prevent a hidden mastermind from starting a war.

I probably liked this installment of the Cinematic Marvel Universe better than I've liked most Marvel films since about 2019.  It was less jokey than average, which was nice, adhering to the template of Winter Soldier.

My brother observed that it's a very Bronze Age Comics movie, and I think he's right. Not in the basic elements of the story which are a mix of (original) Ultimate Universe realism and 21st Century characters and arcs, The structure, however, of things partakes (like Winter Soldier) of 70s political thrillers and the call backs and tying of loose ends of less successful Marvel films (The Eternals and The Incredible Hulk) recalls the way writers would finish off stories with guest appearances in other titles, particularly team-up books like Marvel Two-in-One or Marvel Team-Up. It plays very much like the Captain America Annual dealing with story elements from the aborted Eternals and Hulk runs.